NCAA Men's Basketball / Top 25

Will Yeguete (15) and Patric Young (4) of Florida celebrate after Saturday's 84-65 win over Kentucky at Gainesville, Fla.

Published March 09. 2014 12:01AM | Updated March 09. 2014 3:49AM

Associated Press

No. 1 Florida 84, No. 25 Kentucky 65

Patric Young scored 18 points in his final home game and Florida routed Kentucky on Saturday, becoming the first team in Southeastern Conference history to go 18-0 in league play.

Fellow seniors Casey Prather (15) and Scottie Wilbekin (13) also reached double figures for the Gators (29-2, 18-0), who have won 23 straight this season and 32 in a row at home.

Coach Billy Donovan called timeout with 36.9 seconds remaining to get his four seniors another standing ovation.

They certainly deserved this one.

Young, Prather, Wilbekin and fellow starter Will Yeguete have now won 113 games in four seasons, four shy of tying the school record held by Walter Hodge.

The latest one seemed a lock early but was in doubt for a while in the second half.

Julius Randle led the Wildcats (22-9, 12-6) with 16 points and 10 rebounds.

No. 2 Wichita State 67, Missouri State 42

Cleanthony Early scored 20 points with three 3-pointers and a pair of dunks, and Wichita State improved to 33-0 in the Missouri Valley Conference semifinals.

Tekele Cotton also made three 3-pointers for the top-seeded Shockers, who matched the start by Larry Bird and Indiana State in 1979 before they lost to Michigan State and Magic Johnson in the NCAA title game. Wichita State will be heavily favored against Indiana State or Southern Illinois to make it 34 in a row, which would match the NCAA-record start by UNLV in 1990-91.

The Shockers, who last won the conference tourney in 1987, took control with a 17-0 run in the first half and topped it with 24 straight points in the second, scoring at will while Missouri State endured droughts totaling more than 15 minutes.

Oregon 64, No. 3 Arizona 57

Jason Calliste made the go-ahead jumper and free throw with 4:22 left and finished with 18 points as Oregon won its seventh straight.

Johnathan Loyd added 16 points for the Ducks (22-8, 10-8 Pac-10) who greatly improved their chances of a bid in the NCAA tournament.

Aaron Gordon had 21 points for the Wildcats (28-3, 15-3), who had already clinched the Pac-12 regular-season title heading into next week's conference tournament in Las Vegas.

The Ducks won 13 straight to start the season and got ranked as high as No. 10, but then they lost five straight to tumble out of the poll and fall in the Pac-12 standings.

But Oregon's six-game winning streak put them back in the conversation for a possible NCAA tournament bid and gave them their fourth straight season with at least 20 victories.

No. 4 Duke 93, No. 14 North Carolina 81

Freshman Jabari Parker had a season-high 30 points with 11 rebounds to lead Duke past North Carolina.

Duke never trailed, shot 51 percent — 57 percent in the second half — and dominated the ACC's best team on the glass, outrebounding North Carolina 34-20.

Marcus Paige — who led UNC's second-half comeback two weeks ago — finished with 24 points, while Brice Johnson had 15 and James Michael McAdoo added 13 for the Tar Heels (23-8, 13-5).

They shot nearly 60 percent but couldn't overcome their disadvantage on the glass and are locked into the No. 4 seed in the league tournament.

No. 6 Villanova 77, Georgetown 59

Darrun Hilliard scored 19 points to lead Villanova to a dominating victory, preserving the Wildcats' hopes of a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.

JayVaughn Pinkston added 13 points, and James Bell and Ryan Arcidiacono had 11 apiece for the Wildcats (28-3, 16-2), who won their sixth straight game while tying the 2005-06 team for second-most wins in program history. Villanova's 16 Big East wins are the most in school history.

The 18-point win marked the largest margin of victory for Villanova in a Big East game between the teams.

Markel Starks scored 20 points for the Hoyas (17-13, 8-10), who are in jeopardy of failing to make the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2009. D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera added 14 points and Aaron Bowen had 13 for Georgetown.

The Mountaineers (17-14, 9-9 Big 12) led by as many as 25 points early in the second half before watching Kansas tear into the deficit behind Wiggins, who fouled out in the final seconds after setting a season high in scoring.

Devin Williams, WVU's star freshman, had a season-high 22 points along with 13 rebounds. It marked the first time this season that Kansas had allowed three opposing players to score 20 points.

Perry Ellis added 14 points for Kansas (23-8, 14-4), which clinched its 10th straight regular-season title a week ago and had little riding on the Big 12 regular-season finale.

No. 10 San Diego State 51, No. 21 New Mexico 48

San Diego State rallied from a 16-point second-half deficit and Xavier Thames and Matt Shrigley each made two free throws in the final 9 seconds to seal the victory over New Mexico for the outright Mountain West Conference title.

Thames finished with 23 points for SDSU (27-3, 16-2), which clinched the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament in Las Vegas. Josh Davis, SDSU's other senior, had nine rebounds.

The fans rushed the court and black and red confetti fell from the ceiling at Viejas Arena, where the Aztecs were 15-1 this season. Their only home loss was to Arizona on Nov. 14.

Glenn Robinson scored 20 points, including a tie-breaking 3-pointer with 1:10 to play, and Jordan Morgan had a double-double in his final home game to help Michigan finish off its Big Ten championship season with a victory over Indiana.

Morgan had 15 points and 10 rebounds for Michigan (23-7 15-3), finishing a season in which he had been expected to be a backup until Mitch McGary injured his back. Nik Stauskas added 21, furthering his case for Big Ten Player of the Year.

Doug McDermott scored a career-high 45 points and became the eighth player in Division I history to go over 3,000 for a career in helping Creighton roll past Providence.

McDermott passed the milestone with a 3-pointer midway through the second half. After the ball went in, he ran backward with his right hand in the air, three fingers raised. At the next timeout Doug and his coach-father, Greg McDermott, shared a long embrace on the court as the team huddled at the bench.

Bryce Cotton, the Big East's second-leading scorer, had all of his 23 points in the second half for Providence. LaDontae Henton added 21.

No. 15 Cincinnati 70, Rutgers 66

Sean Kilpatrick scored 24 points and Cincinnati clinched at least a share of the American Athletic Conference regular-season title.

Kilpatrick converted a three-point play and drove the lane for a layup in the final 68 seconds as the Bearcats (26-5, 15-3) rallied from a late deficit against the Scarlet Knights (11-20, 5-13).

Justin Jackson had given Cincinnati a 65-64 lead with 1:46 to play, scoring underneath after Kadeem Jack blocked his original shot in the paint.

Kilpatrick pushed the lead to four points with his back-door layup and free throw. The senior closed out the scoring with 17 seconds to play after Kerwin Okoro scored on a goaltending call against Jackson.

No. 16 Iowa State 85, Oklahoma State 81 (OT)

Naz Long forced overtime with a 30-foot 3-pointer at the buzzer, DeAndre Kane scored five of his 27 points in the closing seconds, and Iowa State overcame a 16-point deficit.

Kane hit a layup and a pair of free throws to put Iowa State ahead 82-79 with 11.7 seconds left.

Georges Niang had 22 points for Iowa State (23-7, 11-7 Big 12), which snapped a two-game losing streak and fell behind by as much as 45-29 before rallying.

Markel Brown missed two free throws with 3 seconds left for Oklahoma State (20-11, 8-10). Marcus Smart had 27 points to lead the Cowboys, but he and Cyclones star Melvin Ejim fouled out in regulation.

Brown finished with 26 points and 12 rebounds.

No. 20 Memphis 67, No. 18 SMU 58

Joe Jackson scored 15 of his 18 points in the second half to lead Memphis.

Jackson hit his first four shots after intermission as the Tigers (23-8, 12-6 American Athletic Conference) shot 59 percent in the second half while building the lead to as many as 14.

Austin Nichols finished with 14 points and nine rebounds for Memphis.

Nic Moore led the Mustangs (23-8, 12-6) with 16 points. Nick Russell and Markus Kennedy scored 13 each for SMU, which lost its second straight, the first time this season the Mustangs have lost consecutive games.